Morningness and sleep quality improve adherence to Mediterranean Diet

Podeu consultar el III Workshop anual INSA-UB complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/118993Sessió 2. Comunicació oral núm.

Emotional eating is associated to sleep quality in Spanish young adults

Podeu consultar el III Workshop anual INSA-UB complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/118993Sessió 1. Pòster núm. 1

Circuit development in the master clock network of mammals

Daily rhythms are generated by the circadian timekeeping system, which is orchestrated by the master circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of mammals. Circadian timekeeping is endogenous and does not require exposure to external cues during development. Nevertheless, the circadian system is not fully formed at birth in many mammalian species and it is important to understand how SCN development can affect the function of the circadian system in adulthood. The purpose of the current review is to discuss the ontogeny of cellular and circuit function in the SCN, with a focus on work performed in model rodent species (i.e., mouse, rat, and hamster). Particular emphasis is placed on the spatial and temporal patterns of SCN development that may contribute to the function of the master clock during adulthood. Additional work aimed at decoding the mechanisms that guide circadian development is expected to provide a solid foundation upon which to better understand the sources and factors contributing to aberrant maturation of clock function

Anthropometric indicators of adiposity and diet related with sleep quality in Ecuadorian adults

Podeu consultar el III Workshop anual INSA-UB complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/118993Sessió 1. Pòster núm.

Complex and unexpected dynamics in simple genetic regulatory networks

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Physiology and toxicology teachers’ coordination. A case study in the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona

El aprendizaje es un proceso continuo que no debería finalizar una vez aprobada una determinada asignatura. En cualquier estudio universitario hay muchas materias que, para su comprensión, requieren de conocimientos adquiridos previamente en otras. En los estudios de Farmacia del plan 2002, los profesores de toxicología habían constatado que los estudiantes de dicha asignatura no recordaban conceptos básicos cursados en asignaturas de semestres anteriores. La asignatura de toxicología necesita para su comprensión conocimientos de, entre otras materias, fisiología y fisiopatología. Por esta razón se planteó la necesidad de hacer una actuación conjunta entre los profesores de Fisiología y Toxicología. Los objetivos de este proyecto fueron: a) Identificación de los contenidos fisiológicos y fisiopatológicos que los alumnos deben conocer para el seguimiento de la asignatura de toxicología. b) Unificación terminológica. c) Realización de un conjunto de preguntas básicas sobre estos contenidos. d) Detección, a través de estas preguntas, de los temas o grupos de temas con porcentajes más altos de respuestas incorrectas. e) Detectar los temas de fisiología y fisiopatología en los que hay que hacer más hincapié para favorecer el seguimiento de toxicología. En esta comunicación se describe la experiencia y los resultados obtenidos.Learning is a continuous process that should be still performed once a particular subject has been passed. In the university, many subjects require prior knowledge of others subjects for better understanding. During the Pharmacy curriculum of 2002, toxicology teachers observed that students did not seem to remember the basic concepts presumably acquired in previous semesters. For example, for the toxicology subject, students should have basic knowledge of physiology and pathophysiology. For this reason, a joint action among physiology and toxicology teachers was considered. The objectives of this project were: a) Identifying the physiological and pathophysiological aspects that students should know to follow the toxicology course. b) Reaching agreement over the common terminology. c) Executing a set of basic questions about these physiological and pathophysiological aspects. d) Detecting through these questions, the topics with a highest percentage of incorrect answers. e) Identifying which physiology and pathophysiology topics should be emphasized to encourage students to follow the toxicology subject. This communication describes the experience and outcomes of this project

<i>Gaia</i> Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties

Context. At about 1000 days after the launch of Gaia we present the first Gaia data release, Gaia DR1, consisting of astrometry and photometry for over 1 billion sources brighter than magnitude 20.7. Aims. A summary of Gaia DR1 is presented along with illustrations of the scientific quality of the data, followed by a discussion of the limitations due to the preliminary nature of this release. Methods. The raw data collected by Gaia during the first 14 months of the mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) and turned into an astrometric and photometric catalogue. Results. Gaia DR1 consists of three components: a primary astrometric data set which contains the positions, parallaxes, and mean proper motions for about 2 million of the brightest stars in common with the HIPPARCOS and Tycho-2 catalogues – a realisation of the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) – and a secondary astrometric data set containing the positions for an additional 1.1 billion sources. The second component is the photometric data set, consisting of mean G-band magnitudes for all sources. The G-band light curves and the characteristics of ∼3000 Cepheid and RR-Lyrae stars, observed at high cadence around the south ecliptic pole, form the third component. For the primary astrometric data set the typical uncertainty is about 0.3 mas for the positions and parallaxes, and about 1 mas yr−1 for the proper motions. A systematic component of ∼0.3 mas should be added to the parallax uncertainties. For the subset of ∼94 000 HIPPARCOS stars in the primary data set, the proper motions are much more precise at about 0.06 mas yr−1. For the secondary astrometric data set, the typical uncertainty of the positions is ∼10 mas. The median uncertainties on the mean G-band magnitudes range from the mmag level to ∼0.03 mag over the magnitude range 5 to 20.7. Conclusions. Gaia DR1 is an important milestone ahead of the next Gaia data release, which will feature five-parameter astrometry for all sources. Extensive validation shows that Gaia DR1 represents a major advance in the mapping of the heavens and the availability of basic stellar data that underpin observational astrophysics. Nevertheless, the very preliminary nature of this first Gaia data release does lead to a number of important limitations to the data quality which should be carefully considered before drawing conclusions from the data

Transient anhedonia phenotype and altered circadian timing of behaviour during night-time dim light exposure in Per3(-/-) mice, but not wildtype mice.

Industrialisation greatly increased human night-time exposure to artificial light, which in animal models is a known cause of depressive phenotypes. Whilst many of these phenotypes are 'direct' effects of light on affect, an 'indirect' pathway via altered sleep-wake timing has been suggested. We have previously shown that the Period3 gene, which forms part of the biological clock, is associated with altered sleep-wake patterns in response to light. Here, we show that both wild-type and Per3(-/-) mice showed elevated levels of circulating corticosterone and increased hippocampal Bdnf expression after 3 weeks of exposure to dim light at night, but only mice deficient for the PERIOD3 protein (Per3(-/-)) exhibited a transient anhedonia-like phenotype, observed as reduced sucrose preference, in weeks 2-3 of dim light at night, whereas WT mice did not. Per3(-/-) mice also exhibited a significantly smaller delay in behavioural timing than WT mice during weeks 1, 2 and 4 of dim light at night exposure. When treated with imipramine, neither Per3(-/-) nor WT mice exhibited an anhedonia-like phenotype, and neither genotypes exhibited a delay in behavioural timing in responses to dLAN. While the association between both Per3(-/-) phenotypes remains unclear, both are alleviated by imipramine treatment during dim night-time light

How to Achieve Fast Entrainment? The Timescale to Synchronization

Entrainment, where oscillators synchronize to an external signal, is ubiquitous in nature. The transient time leading to entrainment plays a major role in many biological processes. Our goal is to unveil the specific dynamics that leads to fast entrainment. By studying a generic model, we characterize the transient time to entrainment and show how it is governed by two basic properties of an oscillator: the radial relaxation time and the phase velocity distribution around the limit cycle. Those two basic properties are inherent in every oscillator. This concept can be applied to many biological systems to predict the average transient time to entrainment or to infer properties of the underlying oscillator from the observed transients. We found that both a sinusoidal oscillator with fast radial relaxation and a spike-like oscillator with slow radial relaxation give rise to fast entrainment. As an example, we discuss the jet-lag experiments in the mammalian circadian pacemaker

cGMP-Phosphodiesterase Inhibition Enhances Photic Responses and Synchronization of the Biological Circadian Clock in Rodents

The master circadian clock in mammals is located in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) and is synchronized by several environmental stimuli, mainly the light-dark (LD) cycle. Light pulses in the late subjective night induce phase advances in locomotor circadian rhythms and the expression of clock genes (such as Per1-2). The mechanism responsible for light-induced phase advances involves the activation of guanylyl cyclase (GC), cGMP and its related protein kinase (PKG). Pharmacological manipulation of cGMP by phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibition (e.g., sildenafil) increases low-intensity light-induced circadian responses, which could reflect the ability of the cGMP-dependent pathway to directly affect the photic sensitivity of the master circadian clock within the SCN. Indeed, sildenafil is also able to increase the phase-shifting effect of saturating (1200 lux) light pulses leading to phase advances of about 9 hours, as well as in C57 a mouse strain that shows reduced phase advances. In addition, sildenafil was effective in both male and female hamsters, as well as after oral administration. Other PDE inhibitors (such as vardenafil and tadalafil) also increased light-induced phase advances of locomotor activity rhythms and accelerated reentrainment after a phase advance in the LD cycle. Pharmacological inhibition of the main downstream target of cGMP, PKG, blocked light-induced expression of Per1. Our results indicate that the cGMP-dependent pathway can directly modulate the light-induced expression of clock-genes within the SCN and the magnitude of light-induced phase advances of overt rhythms, and provide promising tools to design treatments for human circadian disruptions